Yamada Yasuhiro, Takahashi Osamu, Ohde Sachiko, Deshpande Gautam A, Fukui Tsuguya
Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, St. Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo.
Intern Med. 2010;49(15):1521-6. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.49.3572. Epub 2010 Aug 2.
Physicians' attire is one important factor to enhance the physician-patient relationship. However, there are few studies that examine patients' preferences for physicians' attire in Japan. We sought to assess patients' preference regarding doctors' attire and to assess the influence of doctors' attire on patients' confidence in their physician. Furthermore, we examined whether patients' preferences would change among various clinical situations.
Employing a cross-sectional design, Japanese outpatients chosen over one week in October 2008 from waiting rooms in various outpatient departments at St. Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo, were given a 10-item questionnaire. A 5-point Likert scale was used to estimate patient preference for four types of attire in both male and female physicians, including semi-formal attire, white coat, surgical scrubs, and casual wear. In addition, a 4-point Likert Scale was used to measure the influence of doctors' attire on patient confidence.
Japanese outpatients consecutively chosen from waiting rooms at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo for one week in October 2008.
Of 2,272 outpatients enrolled, 1483 (67.1%) of respondents were women. Mean age of subjects was 53.8 years (SD 16.2 years). Respondents most preferred the white coat (mean rank: 4.18, SD: 0.75) and preferred casual attire the least (mean rank: 2.32, SD: 0.81). For female physicians, 1.4% of respondents ranked the white coat little/least preferred while 64.7% of respondents ranked casual wear little/least preferred. Among respondents who most preferred the white coat for physician attire, perceived hygiene (62.7%) and inspiring confidence (59.3%) were important factors for doctor's attire. Around 70% of all respondents reported that physicians' attire has an influence on their confidence in their physician.
This study confirms that Japanese outpatients prefer a white coat. Furthermore, this study strongly suggests that wearing a white coat could favorably influence patients' confidence in the relationship with their physician in all types of practice.
医生着装是增强医患关系的一个重要因素。然而，在日本，很少有研究调查患者对医生着装的偏好。我们试图评估患者对医生着装的偏好，并评估医生着装对患者对其医生信任度的影响。此外，我们还研究了在不同临床情况下患者的偏好是否会发生变化。
采用横断面设计，于2008年10月从东京圣路加国际医院各门诊部候诊室中选取日本门诊患者，让他们填写一份包含10个条目的问卷。采用5点李克特量表来评估患者对男性和女性医生的四种着装类型的偏好，这四种着装类型包括半正式着装、白大褂、手术服和便服。此外，采用4点李克特量表来衡量医生着装对患者信任度的影响。
2008年10月从东京圣路加国际医院候诊室连续选取的日本门诊患者，为期一周。
在纳入的2272名门诊患者中，1483名（67.1%）受访者为女性。受试者的平均年龄为53.8岁（标准差16.2岁）。受访者最喜欢白大褂（平均排名：4.18，标准差：0.75），最不喜欢便服（平均排名：2.32，标准差：0.81）。对于女医生，1.4%的受访者将白大褂列为最不喜欢/不太喜欢的着装，而64.7%的受访者将便服列为最不喜欢/不太喜欢的着装。在最喜欢医生着白大褂的受访者中，认为卫生（62.7%）和令人产生信心（59.3%）是医生着装的重要因素。所有受访者中约70%报告称医生着装会影响他们对其医生的信任度。
本研究证实日本门诊患者更喜欢白大褂。此外，本研究强烈表明，在所有类型的医疗实践中，穿着白大褂可能会对患者与医生关系中的信任度产生积极影响。
